Wide-format Blogs

Did you know that there are government-run Business Support Helplines for UK-based companies? Should you need them the numbers are: England 0800 998 1098; Scotland 0300 303 0660; Wales 0300 060 3000; Northern Ireland 0800 181 4422. They promise free, impartial advice, so it may be worth keeping the numbers handy!

So there’s a new head of credit at Compass Business Finance, which is on record as saying that over the next three to five years it is looking to double the amount of money it is putting into the market. No doubt newcomer Ken Archbold’s phone will be red hot right about now…

With news that the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) has joined Two Sides to strengthen the message that paper is a sustainable resource I’m wondering how print is doing in convincing people that’s the case? And how is the wide-format print sector specifically doing in arguing it has improving eco credentials, especially given that so much of the media used is non-paper-based and less easily recyclable etc?

I note that ESMA will run a new course in November dedicated to inkjet printing onto glass. Do you now do this often? I ask because our Widthwise survey suggests not, yet surely it demands a premium and delivers a good margin? Wondering what your thoughts are on this – and on printing onto other less mainstream surfaces….

RMC is spotlighting a blog it’s put together for designers on ‘how to prepare files for large-format printing’. I’m sort of assuming that you all have conversations with clients on this issue, but given the diversification so many PSPs have made since Covid 19 hit - hopefully bringing in new clients as well as new job types - are you having to spend more time on tackling pre-production problems like this?

I don’t normally flag-up case studies supplied by vendors but I so want to give a shout out to a secondary school in Ontario that’s the focus of a story from Drytac (see the case study at the bottom of this newsletter). The school has introduced a ‘Communications Technology Specialist High Skills Major’ programme that gives students an insight into various creative industries, and one of the first projects saw youngsters designing, printing and applying vinyl graphics onto a snowmobile. How cool is that. What a fabulous way to encourage young people to consider a career in this sector. Should we copy the programme over here?

Given it’s a Bank Holiday on Monday I thought I’d better remind you now that  booking for the jointly hosted Fespa UK/ISA event ‘Making Connections Matter’ close that day - so if you’re wanting to go you’d better sign-up before the frivolities of the long weekend take over!

How do you feel about AI? More to the point, what are you doing to implement AI within your business? It’s clear that this is an issue we can no longer ignore yet for many years now, in our Widthwise survey of PSPs, we’ve asked about investment in AI and we continue to get very low numbers, so how seriously is the sector taking it? I’d love to have your thoughts.

We don’t like talking about what we earn in the UK, but 40% of employers have made at least one higher salary counteroffer in the past 12 months to retain staff according to the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook-Summer 2023, which polled 2,000 employers. Have you done so - and can you give me some idea of how much your wage bill has increased so far in 2023?

This made me chuckle on a Monday morning - a study by Saga has flagged up that more than a third of us over the age of 50 are attending music festivals more frequently now than when they were younger. Just amused at the thought of all those large-format print opportunities there must be….new hotels must be opening up in fields all over the place!

What do you think to Elon Musk’s rebrand of Twitter? I ask because we’ve so long talked about the print sector needing a rebrand of sorts - something to show those not directly involved in the business that it’s not a dirty, inky-fingered and outdated industry so that we’re better placed to recruit the kind of talent we need and deserve. How do we best go about such a reboot?

We're excited! Are you excited? Here's hoping so because you can now download (for free) our Widthwise Report 2023, which analyses the state of the UK’s wide-format digital print sector. The data for this independent piece of annual research - now in its 16th year - comes directly from PSPs, so it’s proper grassroots-based info. You can download your copy at:  https://www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/widthwise

Don’t you just hate chasing unpaid invoices? I don’t get involved that much. Our persistent, pertinacious and polite people in accounts do most of it but occasionally I’ll pitch in if they feel they’re making absolutely no headway or the client is being wilfully obtuse (which, to be fair, is relatively rare).

I’ve just received my invite to the pre-Drupa international media conference next March - just after Fespa Global 2024 in fact, though the actual show doesn’t kick-off until May. Will you go to both, or opt for one or the other?